Editorial: Leave net neutrality alone

THE ISSUE:

The FCC considers whether to end Obama-era net neutrality rules.

THE STAKES:

The change threatens both consumers' wallets and the internet's vibrancy.

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One of the most anti-consumer proposals out of Washington yet comes courtesy of Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai, who is recommending the FCC next month dismantle the "net neutrality" rules put in place under President Barack Obama.

If the Republican-controlled commission follows through, it would undo vital protections designed to keep telecommunication giants from using their near-monopolistic power to control what people see on the internet and even which competitors have access to it.

The telecoms — companies like AT&T, Time Warner, Verizon, Spectrum, and Comcast — fought hard to stop net neutrality in a battle that twisted the facts and capitalized on partisan and ideological divides. In the alternate reality they spun, these multibillion- dollar behemoths were the defenders of plucky entrepreneurs fighting big government regulation that threatened to suck the enterprise and innovation out of the internet. Mr. Pai himself says this is about internet freedom.

That's preposterous. In fact, net neutrality protects the free flow of traffic that helps level the playing field. Simply put, it requires internet service providers — which bring internet service into homes and businesses — to treat all traffic the same. They can't slow some down or speed some up.

The ISPs don't like that. It means they can't charge extra to give preference to select data, nor slow it down selectively. So a Spectrum cable company, for example, can't hinder the stream from a Netflix movie subscription service and frustrate customers into switching to Spectrum's pay-per-view services or buying its premium channels. Nor can Spectrum charge Netflix extra so that it gets to homes as quickly as Spectrum's offerings, forcing Netflix to raise prices.

In the face of the obvious anti-competitive behavior that ending net neutrality could unleash, proponents of this idea counter, incredibly, that this is merely a free-market approach. That's a deceit. As internet users in upstate New York well know, ISPs are virtual monopolies in most markets. And as we're seeing with the proposed merger of AT&T and Time Warner, the impetus is toward even more consolidation and less competition.

The populist pro-consumer lie, though, appears to be even bigger: There is evidence that tens of thousands of comments that came into the FCC against net neutrality were from fictional people, or real people whose identities had been appropriated. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's office is investigating.

Contrary to the fictional narrative spun by the telecoms and their right wing think-tank shills, net neutrality is not the evil hand of big government meddling with the internet. It is an essential regulation designed to protect consumers from anti-competitive practices. The false freedom Mr. Pai touts would come at a huge cost, for consumers, innovators, and the vibrant internet we've had — at least up to now.